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The common failure with multi timeframe analysis is that traders use it to justify what they already wanted to do. H4 bearish, M5 bullish, so they say it is a pullback. Maybe, but that is a rationalization. My rule is that the higher timeframe sets direction and the lower timeframe only picks the entry inside that direction. If H4 structure is bearish, I only take M5 shorts after a sweep or a rally into premium, and I ignore M5 bullish breaks entirely. If H4 is unclear or ranging, I do not trade structure setups at all. I write the bias in one sentence before the session starts, such as bearish below the last lower high, targeting the previous low. If I cannot write that sentence plainly, I have no bias. Then every lower timeframe signal is either aligned or ignored. No exceptions for a setup that looks pretty. It reduces trades dramatically, but the ones that remain have a clear reason.

Writing the bias in one sentence before the session is the part that makes this work. Without it, the H4 view gets quietly rewritten once the M5 starts moving. I also add an expiry to the sentence, something like bearish below 1.0870 until the London close. If price closes above, the bias is void and I stand aside rather than flipping to longs straight away.